Azernews.Az

BAKU – OSCE chairman Audronius Azubalis has said the March 5 meeting held by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Sochi ``opened the door`` for more prospective talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Azubalis’ statement came on Monday following his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan issued a joint statement after talks in Sochi brokered by their Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev stating their intention to "resolve all controversial issues by peaceful means". They agreed to investigate skirmishes along the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops that killed more than 20 soldiers last year, under the auspices of the OSCE mediators. The presidents also agreed to swiftly finalize the exchange of prisoners of war.

Azubalis said that after the Sochi meeting hopes emerged for "restoring the burnt bridges".

But he said the key objective was to remove hurdles in the way of further negotiations.

"Recent incidents reconfirm my conviction that the parties must withdraw snipers from the line of contact. Neither side can win from the current situation, neither militarily nor politically. I further expect that the parties will follow through on their agreement made in Sochi on 5 March, including to investigate incidents on the line of contact."

"I hope that the parties will honour their pledge to refrain from threat or use of force," said Azubalis, Lithuania’s foreign minister. Advancing the settlement of the region's protracted conflicts is a priority of Lithuania's 2011 OSCE chairmanship.

Azubalis said all parties involved agree that there is no acceptable alternative to a peaceful resolution of the long-standing conflict.

"The settlement process led by the Minsk Group co-chairs has kept the dialogue going, but now is the time for leaders to achieve a genuine breakthrough in negotiations," Azubalis said.

The OSCE chief also emphasized the importance of Azerbaijan in securing regional stability, and urged the authorities to implement OSCE commitments to further democratic reforms.

While in Baku, Azubalis also met Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov, representatives of political parties and the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region as well as the staff of the OSCE Office in Baku.

Azubalis presented other priorities of Lithuania's chairmanship, including promoting media freedom, energy security and regional co-operation, in particular on border management and fighting transnational threats.

"Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus are important for the security and stability of the whole OSCE region," he said, underlining continued OSCE support for furthering domestic reforms.

"The continued strong co-operation with the OSCE Office in Baku offers a solid basis for advancing the reform process."

Azubalis said media freedom is an important priority of Lithuania’s chairmanship, and his country will host a conference in Vilnius in June on the safety of journalists, in co-operation with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic.

"The OSCE stands ready to support efforts to promote media freedom in Azerbaijan. I support the call by Ms. Mijatovic for the release of journalist Eynulla Fatullayev in line with the decision by the European Court of Human Rights."

Azubalis discussed the follow-up process to the Astana Commemorative Declaration, which was adopted at the OSCE summit in Astana in December. In the declaration all OSCE states renewed their commitments in all three dimensions of security – the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human dimensions.

"At the summit in Astana, OSCE states reaffirmed their commitments, including to protect the right of people to peacefully assemble and express their views freely. I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfil their commitments to safeguard freedom of expression, assembly and association," he said.

Azubalis will be in Georgia on March 15-16, and in Armenia on March 17-18.